Blood is Thicker Than Water - 血浓于水

By Julia Wellham This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua for a six week study abroad program. One of the more interesting cultural experiences for me was being in León during the celebration of the Revolution. This July 19 marked the 38th anniversary of the Nicaraguan Revolution, which ended in 1979 when the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) successfully overthrew the oppressive Somoza dictatorship/dynasty. It was followed by the 10 year Contra War between the Sandinistas and US backed counter-revolutionaries. It was an incredibly brutal and bloody time. Most of Nicaragua supported the Sandinistas, and there has been a lot of anger over US imperialism. Many still resent past US interventions as well as current endeavors such as the Nica Act . However, their anger towards and mistrust of the United States does not seem to extend to Americans themselves (at least not average citizens like us). It was a new experience for me to have someone hate a coun

Our first meal in Yangzhou.  Believe it or not this is only a fraction of the meal served us Arriving in Yangzhou and Yangzhou University This will probably be the longer post of the two, because we stayed here in Yangzhou for a whole week. On top of that, we were doing several fun activities every day.  Not to mention, the campus itself had a lot to explore! Settling In When we arrived, we got our room assignments in the international student dorms, received a brief orientation, and then set off to the school cafeteria for lunch. We also got to meet a few of the buddy students (college freshmen, mostly from the English department, who would be assigned to each student from the U.S.). After lunch, we went to a party/talent show that the buddy students had chosen to throw just for us. New Acquaintances We were served refreshments and seated in a small lecture hall as pop songs played in the background. A few speeches were made by the program directors, as well as the U.S. g

It has been way too long since I last posted, and a lot of cool China-related things have been happening recently. The most exciting, in my opinion, was actually going to China two weeks ago! I will be posting about some of the trip's highlights in two parts, because there is just too much to share about in one post. So bear with me! But First... A quick overview of the trip: I went on a two week trip to China through the Confucious Institute at Kennesaw State University. I went with a group of 18 people in total, 16 teenagers, and 2 adult chaperones. We spent about three days in Shanghai, then traveled to Yangzhou for a week, and finally took an overnight  train to Beijing for three days of sight-seeing. The housing and food accommodations were incredible,( I think we were definitely being pampered by the program!). Okay, moving on... Our group's leg-cramping flight journey ended at the Shanghai airport, 8:30 pm. There we met our Shanghai tour guide, as well as our con

Up until this year, I can honestly say I have never made a legitimate effort to celebrate Chinese New Year. However, A few weeks ago, I got to partake of some new year festivities, as I had my first Chinese dance performance at the 2017 Atlanta Chinese Lunar New Year Festival. As there were several different types of performances throughout the rest of the day, almost all of the performers were given the opportunity to be a spectator. So, after our dance performance, we were released to enjoy the festival activities. The highlights for me were the dragon dance (which took place outdoors), visiting the different booths with friends, and most of all, the FOOD! The majority of the food vendors were set up along the walls in the same room as the stage, which meant performance-viewers and consumers alike were packed together in a tight, cheerful mass. My friends and I got separated several times as we squeezed through the crowd to try the wide array of foods. There was everything fr

          There is actually a funny story connected to as to how I got this book.( This is the part you skip if you only want the book review)  Our family does not keep many traditions in general, and Christmas is not an exception. In fact, as the years have gone by, our holiday traditions have decreased. As it happened this year, I was feeling a little down and out of the whole 'Christmas Spirit' thing because I hadn't gotten the chance to engage in the scanty holiday traditions we do keep. I had missed out on the Christmas tree 'pick-out and pick-up', the laying out of Christmas decorations, the tree decorating, and the stocking hanging (actually, I don't think we hung our stockings at all!).      I expressed this dilemma of a lack of Christmas Spirit to my mother, and she thoughtfully offered to let me wrap my sister's gifts in her bedroom. It was then that I looked down at one of the gifts I was wrapping and realized it was a book about Chinese Danc

           One of the many things that I find especially enchanting about Chinese culture is their writing. To my unsophisticated eye , characters written using only a mechanical pencil or a cheap ballpoint pen are still beautiful. However, Chinese characters truly seem to push the line between art and writing when they are portrayed through Chinese calligraphy.          This past Saturday, I got to attend my first Chinese Art and Calligraphy Class at the Chinese Cultural School in Duluth! I was a bit nervous about going, because  when I had visited the school to see about enrolling, I had noticed that the Calligraphy class was small, and that all the student's appeared to be a lot younger than me. When I entered the classroom, there were only four of us as students, and I was by far the oldest. Furthermore, I had come with none of the necessary supplies (no brushes, paper, or ink). Not to mention, once we started to practice writing (me using some supplies borrowed from the